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This weekend I got to run a few tables at a local convention: TotalCon in Massachusetts. It was lots of fun!
One thing I realized as the weekend progressed was how important the pregenerated characters are. Quite a few of the players that were interested in checking out the setting and the PFS did not already have a character, so the pregens are in my opinion one of the most important aspects of making it easy for everyone to check it out.
That being the case, is there any plan to expand on the list of pregens? I would love to see a pregen option for most if not all of the core classes. The next local con my friends and I coordinate PFS tables I'd like to have a bunch of them to display so people can take something away from the table.
Anyone else have any good tips or suggestions for convention play?
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This weekend I got to run a few tables at a local convention: TotalCon in Massachusetts. It was lots of fun!
One thing I realized as the weekend progressed was how important the pregenerated characters are. Quite a few of the players that were interested in checking out the setting and the PFS did not already have a character, so the pregens are in my opinion one of the most important aspects of making it easy for everyone to check it out.
That being the case, is there any plan to expand on the list of pregens? I would love to see a pregen option for most if not all of the core classes. The next local con my friends and I coordinate PFS tables I'd like to have a bunch of them to display so people can take something away from the table.
Anyone else have any good tips or suggestions for convention play?
After also running at a con this weekend, I too would greatly appreciate more than the core 4 pregen character choices. Having 5 pregens at one particular table led to having a duplicate character. That seemed weird.
Regional Venture-Coordinator, Mediterranean
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Is it the lack of 1st-level or higher-level (or both) pregens that seems to be the problem?
In my experience of running games at cons the problem is more pronounced at low levels. It's more likely that you could have a whole table of newcomers playing a 1st level game.
For attracting newcomers, the pre-gen characters are extremely important. Havign colour print outs of them means the artwork attracts interest and the fact that someone can just sit down and start playing immediately means that you can get somebody involved straight away. Then once they're hooked they know that they can adapt the character they have just played really helps.
So yes, please produce more pre-gens. Covering each of the core classes with just 1st level characters would help tremendously.
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I agree that the 1st-level pregens are the most important, however I would like to give some importance to the 4th and 7th level ones as well.
The higher level pregens allow newcomers to test out some of the deeper abilities and feats within the system. I can imagine some players being attracted to the possibility of checking out this level of Pathfinder.
For instance, I was able to run one table of Drow of the Darklands Pyramid with some new players that could use the 7th level pregens.
Josh said that pre-gens for more classes are 'on his to do list', but that there were other things that are higher priority.
This.
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This weekend I got to run a few tables at a local convention: TotalCon in Massachusetts. It was lots of fun!
One thing I realized as the weekend progressed was how important the pregenerated characters are. Quite a few of the players that were interested in checking out the setting and the PFS did not already have a character, so the pregens are in my opinion one of the most important aspects of making it easy for everyone to check it out.
That being the case, is there any plan to expand on the list of pregens? I would love to see a pregen option for most if not all of the core classes. The next local con my friends and I coordinate PFS tables I'd like to have a bunch of them to display so people can take something away from the table.
Anyone else have any good tips or suggestions for convention play?
I was at Totalcon this past weekend and being new to Pathfinder i used one of those pre-gens..had a lot of fun and now i have xp and gold with which to use on my first character..working on that now..thanks for the help and info into the society, had a great run..
blood, gold and honour!!
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Shisumo created a PDF containing Pathfinder Society Pregens for the Pathfinder RPG - one race for every class (over 85 characters!)
These have been a great resource at conventions I've run Pathfinder Society games at. I use A4 cream-parchment copy paper, printing the character sheet on one side, and a character image on the flip-side, they look great! and make a nice take-home bonus for new players.
Scour the Paizo blog for character images appropriate for each pre-gen, they're generally good res quality for A4 printing:
Sword Lady, Jamus (Halfling), Loremaster (Dwarf), Assassin (Half-orc), Sorcerer (Dragon), Sorcerer (Fire), Zephyr Guard, Genie Binder, Katapeshi Half-orc, Katapeshi Human, Paladin of Iomedae etc. You'll find others, but these are a good start.
Our beloved Iconics also make good character art for the flip-side of a character sheet: Amiri Human Barbarian, Sajan Human Monk, Lini Gnome Druid, Valeros Human Fighter, Seoni Human Sorcerer, Harsk Dwarven Ranger, Merisiel Elven Rogue, Kyra Human Cleric, Seelah Human Paladin, Lem Halfling Bard, Ezren Human Wizard, Seltyiel, Eando Kline
and the Advanced Players Guide (even if you use them for generic figher, wizard, etc): Inquisitor, Alchemist, Witch, Summoner, Oracle, Cavalier.
I'd suggest keeping a first-level copy of any character sheet you've written up for your own Pathfinder Society characters, and using those as pre-gens - you'll find new players will take them in totally new directions!
Director of Brand Strategy
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Josh said that pre-gens for more classes are 'on his to do list', but that there were other things that are higher priority.This.
This is at the top of your list, now, right? I'm running a game for the local Dave Arneson Memorial Gameday on Saturday and would love to have more than four official pregens to hand out. I understand if you have other priorities; I hear a totally mind-blowing turnover is coming your way on Friday.
I can't predict when I'll be able to get to additional pregens. I know I want them out before Paizo Con, but that's the best prediction I can give.
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I can't predict when I'll be able to get to additional pregens. I know I want them out before Paizo Con, but that's the best prediction I can give.
So was there any update on this Josh? I have a few events planned in the next month or two that more pregens would be awesome!
Thanks in advance for your help and hard work!
-D
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I can't predict when I'll be able to get to additional pregens. I know I want them out before Paizo Con, but that's the best prediction I can give.So was there any update on this Josh? I have a few events planned in the next month or two that more pregens would be awesome!
Thanks in advance for your help and hard work!
-D
There are six new pregens in 'Master Of The Fallen Fortress'.
Josh has specifically said in another thread that he needs to update/adjust them so that they can be legal for normal PFS play beyond that module. And even if he ends up not having to change anything, he still has to check them over and probably put them into their own pdf or add them to the one containing the other four legal pregens and officially announce they are legal to play before they can be used. And frankly, since the pregens as they are in the module were made using the playtest rules, he probably needs to compare them to the final versions in the APG as well for adjustments before releasing them for use.
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They're only PFS legal for Master of the Fallen Fortress--you can't use them if someone walks up without a character at a gameday or convention and wants to play a pre-gen in any other PFS module, though. The answer to why not would be because Joshua said so, I guess...He also said he intended to add them as official pre-gens to the pdf for pathfinder society sometime before Gen-con.
For GM table filler there are only the official pregens, but for the expedience of play I think that any 'pre generated legal' character would be playable, including the new 6 or the massive 85+ character pdf.
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Since Joshua posted previously saying specifically that they were only legal for that one module at this point in time, I'm thinking that's not the case. Here's the post I'm talking about:
Sorry for not being clear. What I meant was that for the GM to play as a 4th, only the 'offical pregens are allowed IE: the 4 Iconics.'
A previously generated PFS-legal character that you hand off to someone who doesn't know how to play, or doesn't have the time to create one is peachy keen. This would include the 6 'new iconics' as they were created based on the currently PFS-legal rules for these characters.
That help? :)
Since people want to keep arguing that they can be played as is, why don't you get out your copy of them and look first. They are made for regular play, not PFS, and have to be fixed first. The first example of this is that the alchemist pregen has Brew Potion and you all know that is not allowed in PFS play. I am sure that besides this there are other things that have to be taken care of that are not PFS-legal.
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Since people want to keep arguing that they can be played as is, why don't you get out your copy of them and look first. They are made for regular play, not PFS, and have to be fixed first. The first example of this is that the alchemist pregen has Brew Potion and you all know that is not allowed in PFS play. I am sure that besides this there are other things that have to be taken care of that are not PFS-legal.
Yes, I overlooked that. Thanks for clearing that up. I did, however, also caveat with PFS-legal. I believe you should already understand the point I am trying to make.
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As long as the PC is legal, both for PF and PFSoc specific rules, there shouldn't be any reason not to allow the new player to take a copy and retroactively register it as his new PC, under its own unique name, after the session.
If it is truly PFSoc-legal, then there's no way to distinguish a PC created by the GM/event organiser from a PC he could have made personally.
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I know this may take some time, but if you run a gameday or at a convention create some ready to go Pre gen characters. I ran at Phoenix Comicon recently and am a GM for a gameday in Phoenix and Mesa, AZ. We have 17 pregens made for new PC's, all are PFS legal(traits and all) and only need a Faction chosen, which summary of each is provided. We tell new players that they only need keep the faction and Name for their PC and that they can remake the character between their first and second chronicle based on PFS players guide rules, but that is the only time. This really helped allot we averaged 4 new Players per slot at the convention and the gameday brings in abut one per table. PFS has been given a great opportunity for a Living Campaign with the issues 4E is facing, bringing in those players is a priority. Seize this opportunity.
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I would like to call new attention to this question. Will we ever be able to have pregens for the core classes outside the cleric, fighter, rogue, and wizard that we already have? I know we have four from the APG, but it would be cool to have a pregen ranger, socrerer, druid, barbarian, bard, and monk.
On a side note, was including only the cleric, fighter, rogue, and wizard for a while a way to encourage new players to create balanced parties?
Shane
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I would like to call new attention to this question. Will we ever be able to have pregens for the core classes outside the cleric, fighter, rogue, and wizard that we already have? I know we have four from the APG, but it would be cool to have a pregen ranger, socrerer, druid, barbarian, bard, and monk.
This has been a long-running request, but I believe a solution is in the works:
We're actually working on getting new pregens out there for use, at a variety of levels. They won't be crazy optimized, but they'll be worlds better than the current pregens.
Hyrum.
On a side note, was including only the cleric, fighter, rogue, and wizard for a while a way to encourage new players to create balanced parties?
Shane
I suspect it was simply if there were only time to create and layout four pre-gens, these have widely been considered the "basic four" through all versions of the game.
I'm looking forward to seeing pre-gens for all 18 classes.
Cheers,
DarkWhite
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I suspect it was simply if there were only time to create and layout four pre-gens, these have widely been considered the "basic four" through all versions of the game.On a side note, was including only the cleric, fighter, rogue, and wizard for a while a way to encourage new players to create balanced parties?
Shane
At the risk of stating the obvious, writing up pregens takes quite a bit of time.
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At the risk of stating the obvious, writing up pregens takes quite a bit of time.
If anyone knows this, Shisumo should!
While we're waiting for revised or more pregens for Paizo's 18 iconic classed characters, Shisumo's 1st-level pregens should satisfy most people's entery-level needs. I usually carry a stack of them to any convention I GM at.
- Pathfinder Society Pregens for Pathfinder RPG
- Pathfinder Society Pregens for the Advanced Player's Guide
Cheers,
DarkWhite
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At the risk of stating the obvious, writing up pregens takes quite a bit of time.If anyone knows this, Shisumo should!
While we're waiting for revised or more pregens for Paizo's 18 iconic classed characters, Shisumo's 1st-level pregens should satisfy most people's entery-level needs. I usually carry a stack of them to any convention I GM at.
- Pathfinder Society Pregens for Pathfinder RPG
- Pathfinder Society Pregens for the Advanced Player's Guide
Cheers,
DarkWhite
And I totally owe you a massive thank-you for all the support you've given me. :D I'm glad they've been so useful!
I've been eyeing my original pregen set and the APG recently. If I get a bug, I might just see about another round of base class pregens that use the APG stuff; think anyone might be interested?
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And I totally owe you a massive thank-you for all the support you've given me. :D I'm glad they've been so useful!
You're waaay too modest - you should be promoting these pregens whenever threads like this pop up, yourself. But I'm happy to promote them, because they have been really useful!
I've been eyeing my original pregen set and the APG recently. If I get a bug, I might just see about another round of base class pregens that use the APG stuff; think anyone might be interested?
I definitely think people will be interested.
Whenever I run a convention, there's always new (or experienced) players that turn up without characters ready to play. Having a stack of pregens, one class for every race, allows players to flick through until they find a race/class concept they like, and use that as a base template from which to swap out a weapon or a feat or a spell choice or two - but having a pregen to start from saves most of the hard work and more importantly, time before the session starts.
I've often thought I should create a few first-level pregens of my own to add to the choices available, but sadly I've never gotten around to it. Mostly because I'm not sure how best to present them.
In any case, more choice is always a good thing. Your work has been very much appreciated.
Cheers,
DarkWhite
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And I totally owe you a massive thank-you for all the support you've given me. :D I'm glad they've been so useful!You're waaay too modest - you should be promoting these pregens whenever threads like this pop up, yourself. But I'm happy to promote them, because they have been really useful!
Sadly, I don't get to spend a lot of time around here these days. Recently, I've been working as part of the admin team for Heroes of Rokugan 3, which has severely cut into my free time in general and time to play Pathfinder in particular - but I still love the game, and I love offering what I can to the community for PFS.
I am, however, pretty lousy at self-promotion. I generally just say something like, "Hey, here's this thing I did," and assume that if it's worth paying attention to, people will do so without me getting too egotistical about it. ;)
Other people are free to be egotistical on my behalf, however. ;)
I've been eyeing my original pregen set and the APG recently. If I get a bug, I might just see about another round of base class pregens that use the APG stuff; think anyone might be interested?I definitely think people will be interested.
Whenever I run a convention, there's always new (or experienced) players that turn up without characters ready to play. Having a stack of pregens, one class for every race, allows players to flick through until they find a race/class concept they like, and use that as a base template from which to swap out a weapon or a feat or a spell choice or two - but having a pregen to start from saves most of the hard work and more importantly, time before the session starts.
I've often thought I should create a few first-level pregens of my own to add to the choices available, but sadly I've never gotten around to it. Mostly because I'm not sure how best to present them.
In any case, more choice is always a good thing. Your work has been very much appreciated.
Cheers,
DarkWhite
Presentation is always an issue. There are a lot of people who hate the text format I use, because it doesn't look enough like a character sheet, and I completely get the aesthetic mismatch they're talking about. I use the text model because it a) is incredibly easy to convert from a text file and b) allows me to do all the math in advance, which I think is really useful for a pregen, but I am well aware it's not to everyone's taste.
Regardless, the idea of a set of archetype pregens for the base classes won't go away (though of course the size of such a document will dwarf even the original base class pregen set), so I will probably wind up doing it at some point. Eventually.